EVs - spreading their wings...

Airplane fuel is a huge area to tackle when it comes to a low carbon economy and low carbon transport. While EV cars are booming until now there has been little (save for solar impulse 2) in the way of development of planes using any alternative fuel type.

However, EasyJet's partnership with US firm Wright Electric may hold the key to the first battery-powered aircraft. The announcement comes at a time where the Paris Climate Agreement and the falling cost of batteries create an environment where new entrants can experiment and set the pace of the market. The partnership will allow Wright Electric to better understand the industry's requirements and to develop a battery whose size and weight would enable short-haul flights, such as London to Paris and Edinburgh to Bristol. A fully electric plane could only be a decade away and we are genuinely excited to see what this would look like.

We will be at the Solar & Storage Live event at the NEC in Birmingham next week so please visit stand H22 to discuss this and meet the FA Energy team .

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The US firm said its goal was for every short flight to be electric within 20 years. It has already built a two-seater prototype and is working towards a fully electric plane within a decade and with the capacity to carry at least 120 passengers.
EasyJet’s chief commercial officer, Peter Duffy, said the partnership would help Wright Electric understand what was required to make the planes commercially successful, looking at factors such as maintenance and revenue management.